So via this post, I am officially calling for a congressional hearing concerning stupid professors being allowed to call for the wasting of time and money of our federal government. University of Missouri-Columbia psychologist and adjunct professor of peace studies Bill Wickersham should be required to testify in front of Congress to answer why he believes arguments based on an unofficial, French, UFO cherry-picked-laden study from 12 years ago, which concluded that perhaps 5% of UFO cases could be of extra-terrestrial origin, is a reasonable use of federal taxpayer money and congressional time.

Professor Wickersham needs to be asked why a (likely) tenured employee of the state of Missouri, such as himself, is costing Missourian taxpayers money to fund his time and efforts in perpetuating his personal beliefs in the form of UFOs. He needs to explain; upon what scientific principals are his extraordinary claims being based, in proper context of there never having been a single shred of scientific evidence for the existence of extra-terrestrial technology or intelligent life. The professor needs to explain to the country why he encourages the entanglement of legitimate sciences, such as the search for extraterrestrial life forms, with the pseudo-scientific tactics of relying on testimonials, anecdotes, and photographs of alleged alien visitations. He should have to explain the following statement from the study he is reportedly basing his request upon:

“The extraterrestrial hypothesis is far from the best scientific hypothesis. It certainly has not been categorically proven, but strong presumptions exist in its favor and if it is correct, it is loaded with consequences.”

This “esteemed” professor is calling for Congressional hearings based on presumptions? “Loaded with consequences” based upon those presumptions? He must be asked to explain this position.

So in my not-so-humble opinion, my call for a Congressional hearing against the ‘Professor Wickershams’ that weed themselves into the flowerbeds of higher education is a much better use of Congress’ time and federal taxpayer money than the one being called for by a professor with a disturbing disposition to believe in aliens and UFO’s.

Evan, when I was in the fifth grade, I wrote, typed, illustrated, and bound a book called Do You Believe in UFO’s?, for a school project. In it, I regurgitated every spooky, anecdotal, embelished, and exagerated UFO story I had heard, read, or seen on television, from Betty and Barney Hill to Roswell.

A few years later, in my late teens, something amazing happened. I was growing up, and I realized that everything I had written in that book was pure, fantasy-driven, unsubstantiated nonsense. As a child, I had been a completely incompetent investigator and journalist.

To this day, I am still astonished that grown men can earn advanced college degrees, become trusted professors at American colleges and universities, lobby the United States Congress, and yet still think critically as poorly as I did when I was eleven. It’s embarassing, really.

An irony is that, as you mentioned, the human search for extraterrestrial intelligence is a meaningful scientific endeavor, and the hypothesis that life most likely exists elsewhere in the universe is a highly valid philosophical conclusion. I think Mr. Wickersham is old enough to understand the difference between science and ghost stories.